CREATION OF A LANDMARK EXPERIENCE can also slow down drivers in North Clare.
A review of the junction at Lemenagh Castle “with a view to putting a suitable and attractive design and plan in place for this high profile location,” was requested by Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG).
Senior executive engineer in the West Clare Municipal District, Enda MacNamara outlined, “The area office will request the Road Design Office to review this junction and propose a revised design”.
An opportunity exists as part of this piece of work, Cllr Garrihy believed. “Most of us will know this iconic junction, it is one of the most prominent and famous landscapes coming from Corofin and the Burren”.
He recalled a recent motion before Clare County Council by Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) to name roundabouts in the county after high-profile persons. “We have an opportunity here, we spoke in the Council Chamber about the need to leverage roundabouts by naming them after famous people.
“This is the junction which takes you to Carron, to the Michael Cusack Centre and deep into the Burren, this is an opportunity to deal with a dodgy junction but to create a landmark experience coming from Corofin and into Carron to slow you down. When you’re doing the design, I think there’s an opportunity not just to do road safety and sort out the junction but to take advantage of the iconic location”.
“The castle is iconic,” Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) said when seconding the proposal. “It’s a landmark, it has plenty of signposts identifying plenty of tourist attractions and towns and villages, it is also an area where wasters like to do the wheelies on a weekend, if you went there on a Monday morning you could gather enough rubber to build one of the tyres”.
Local whispers have suggested the castle is “haunted,” Cllr Garrihy flagged. He quipped that Council staff would need to be wary “if there’s a feeling of extra cold in the air”. This prompted Cllr Shane Talty (FF) to remark that a Lissycasey water diviner might be needed for the job, “Cllr Kelly could be called into to do some divining”.
